Chattarpur farmhouse wasn't the only trigger that led to Ponty Chadha's death...brother Hardeep 'wanted bigger percentage in all future investments'

A dispute over the Chhattarpur farmhouse - DLF-42 - was not the only trigger that led to the death of business tycoon and liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep in a bloody shootout.

Hardeep allegedly wanted a bigger percentage in all future investments of Wave Inc, including real estate acquisitions, investigations have revealed. Hardeep, in charge of a distillery and paper mill in Hargobindpur in Punjab, was not happy with his share in the family business.

He wanted a bigger share of profits from Ponty's real estate business which, after his liquor enterprise, had turned into a cash cow.

Ponty allegedly shouts at his brother from his Toyota Land cruiser. Hardeep fires at Ponty's SUV's bonnet to scare him

Police believe this long-simmering tension between the brothers flared up on Saturday, resulting in the shootout.

Two days after the incident, new details continue to emerge. Police on Monday said Hardeep was armed with two licenced pistols from which he fired at Ponty and his men.

Police further said that before reaching the Chhattarpur farmhouse, Ponty's men had barged inside another property which was in possession of Hardeep - G-19, a farmhouse at Bijwasan near the Kapasera border - where they thrashed Hardeep's workers.

Hardeep's relatives claimed there was no property dispute between the brothers.

"There was no property dispute between them. We would have mediated if it would have been the case," said Harvinder Singh Sarna, Hardeep's father-in-law. Sarna is an executive member of the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee.

Vivek Gogia, joint commissioner of police (southwest), in an offcamera briefing, added that the property dispute had not reached the court as far as the knowledge of investigators and the two brother's mother and community elders were trying to find an amicable solution to the disagreements between them.

Gogia further claimed that Ponty's men barged inside the farmhouse on Saturday morning and thrashed some of Hardeep's workers, took away their mobile phones, confined them and threw out some others. "Some fires were also shot in the air," he said.

Interestingly, Uttrakhand Minorities Commission chairman Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, in his complaint, contradicted the police version stating that Ponty and his men were at the gate of the farmhouse when Hardeep came and started firing.

Namdhari was at the farmhouse accompanying Ponty. Namdhari has also stated that Hardeep fired at Ponty's Land Cruiser and that he also had to duck bullets after which his PSO, Sachin Tyagi, opened fire in retaliation.

The Punjab Police personnel at the spot did not fire from their weapons. Charanjit Singh, a commandant from the 8th Battalion of Punjab Armed Police (PAP), who was at the Mehrauli police station, confirmed that none of the Punjab Police personnel at the spot had opened fire.

"Ponty had one security guard from 82nd Battalion of PAP with him, while Hardeep had three personnel from 9th Battalion of PAP. Hardeep's three guards were on leave on Saturday," Charanjit said.

Twelve weapons - including three AK-47s and Beretta pistols - have been seized, apart from the three pistols - .32 bore, .30 bore and 9mm - used in the crime

UP liquor lobby moves in to fill void left by Ponty

After the death of liquor baron Ponty Chadha, the multi-crore liquor business in Uttar Pradesh is likely to witness a major upheaval.

People connected with the trade will clamour to fill the void created by the demise of Ponty. Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is said to have chaired a meeting on Sunday to discuss the contours of the new policy.

Officially, there was no confirmation of the meeting as the chief minister is said to have been in Saifai before moving to Delhi on Sunday.

Sukhdev Singh Namdhari , second from right with Ponty Chadha in Africa in 2010. Ponty's son Monty is also present

Sources in the state excise department claimed that several names have already started doing the rounds in the corridors of power for filling the vacuum created by Ponty's murder.

Prominent players of the liquor trade whose names are being discussed include Badri Prasad Jaiswal, Har Prasad Jaiswal, Tilak Raj Sharma and Jawahar Lal Jaiswal. "Jawahar may find favour with the government as he had been a Samajwadi Party MP from Chandauli," claimed a party insider.

He said though all four whose names were being floated were traditionally associated with the liquor trade in Uttar Pradesh, Jawahar Jaiswal appears to be the front runner. He is not only financially sound, he has interests in distillery, brewery, sugar mills and hotels.

A person connected with the liquor trade claimed it was Jawahar Jaiswal who first introduced Ponty to BSP chief Mayawati when she took over as the chief minister of the state for the second time in 1998.

During that stint of Mayawati, Ponty, with Jawahar's help, managed to monopolise the lottery trade in UP.

When Mayawati became chief minister for the third time in 2007, Ponty managed to gain proximity to a senior bureaucrat considered a close confidant of the BSP supremo.

This officer was not only instrumental in getting Ponty to monopolise the entire liquor trade, but was also responsible for the sale of four stateowned sugar mills to Ponty.

Such was Ponty's clout during the previous Mayawati regime that western UP comprising 17 districts with over 4,000 retail outlets was declared a special excise zone and handed over to Ponty in a questionable manner Soon, Ponty managed to control the liquor business in the eastern UP too.

In east UP, he controlled the liquor trade in a joint venture with Badri Prasad Jaiswal, Har Prasad Jaiswal and Tilak Raj Sharma, whose names are doing the rounds for filling the void created by Ponty's death.

Namdhari could lose minority panel chief post

Uttarakhand Minorities Commission chairman Sukhdev Singh Namdhari is likely to lose his post. The Uttarakhand Government is all set to take tough action against Namdhari, who is a key witness in the Ponty Chadha murder case.

Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna indicated it while interacting with the media in Dehradun on Monday.

He said, "The BJP appointed Namdhari the chairman of the state minorities commission despite his criminal background. We will take necessary action."

The term of the state minorities commission chairman is for five years but the twin murder incident is likely to prove a major hurdle in the way of Namdhari completing his full term.

The CM has ordered an inquiry into the alleged role of Sukhdev, who was with Ponty at the farmhouse when the shootout took place.

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Over two-dozen criminal cases, including cases of murder and attempt to murder, are pending against Namdhari in Uttarakhand. Namdhari hails from Bajpur (Udham Singh Nagar) and is a small-time BJP leader.

The high-profile shootout and the presence of Sukhdev at the farmhouse has given the ruling Congress a chance to attack the BJP. Incidentally, Namdhari was made the head of the state minorities commission when Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank was the chief minister in early 2010.